Chambers host Town Hall with Ministers Joly and MonsefAbout a dozen questions were asked and answered during this 45 minute session on Monday evening. Peterborough and Kawartha Chamber members submitted questions on rent relief, bringing back workers, tourism, and programs available to small business. Watch the video

Cancellation of development service department fees (building, planning, zoning to stimulate construction activities)

Waiving of parking fees and permits (those employers pay to have spots in City-owned parking lots)

Business License Fees (defer payment of fees directly to the city)

Deferred commercial taxes to be paid back interest-free and spread out over 24 months

Consult with businesses on impact of new measures to be put in places

What has been implemented as a result of lobbying:

Transit Fees waived (to help employees get to work at essential service businesses)

Noise By-Laws (Adjusted to reflect the provincial order to allow trucks in at all hours to stock essential businesses)

Waive utilities bills for three months and Place all Time-of-Use customers on off-peak pricing (Peterborough Utilities Corporation has waived late payment fees, security deposits still being held on accounts were applied to bills)

Provincial Government

Emailed our MPP Dave Smith with a list of concerns from our local business and echoing calls from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Participate on a conference call with MPP Smith and series of virtual town halls

Business Community is asking for the following relief measures:

Commercial Rent (A program to help businesses and landlords with commercial rent concerns)

Create a fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) finance remote work options.

A technology grant for e-commerce development (perhaps through the Digital Main Street program)

Create a tax credit for health practitionerswho must go into quarantine (as this could impact their livelihood)

Accelerate payments owed to private sector and non-profit vendors (to help get much-needed cash into the hands of SMEs as quickly as possible)

Extend the deadline for submissions on any proposed provincial regulations open for comments and yet to be in effect.​ ​

Work with municipalities to delay or temporarily eliminate taxes and fees on business (this is done by delaying the deadline to give the education tax portion of the tax bill to the province)

Support Provinces in delaying collection of Employer Health Tax and WSIB (On March 25, 2020 the province retroactively reduced the Employer Health Tax (EHT) and temporarily increase the exemption from $490,000 to $1 million and deferred $1.9 billion of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) premiums and expenses for employers for 6 months (August 31, 2020)​

Federal Government

​Emails to MP Monsef, MP Schmale, and MP Lawrence throughout the development of the CERB, CEBA and two Temporary Wage Subsidy programs

Participate on weekly conference calls with MP, MPP, Warden, Mayor and Township Mayors along with First Nations chiefs, and many of #TeamPtbo

Business Community is asking for the following relief measures:

Continued thought on childcare and how to create a system that works to get people back to work

Adjust the Canada Business Emergency Account to reflect that many businesses fall below the $50K payroll threshold to access the loan and consider further dropping the lower end to capture more solopreneurs and businesses in our more rural areas. Further push to include even more solopreneurs, employers who pay via dividends and those who employ contract workers.

A program to help businesses and landlords with commercial rent (Announced April 16, 2020 that a Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program is being created)

Incentivize individuals and companies with resources to invest in small businesses

Help businesses, particularly SMEs, finance remote work options; more technology grants for e-commerce

Place a moratorium on the introduction of new regulations that are non-essential

Work with major credit card providers to waive interest on corporate cards for six months (up to $25,000)

CEBA given new payroll threshold of $20K - $1.5M; and on May 20, 2020 CEBA eligibility requirements were expanded to include solopreneurs, employers who pay via dividends and those who employ contract workers.

More direct funding for employees (Wage subsidy program of 10% is still in place; wage subsidy of 75% announced after lobbying efforts)

Help affected businesses, particularly SMEs, access emergency credit and capital swiftly and interest free (Canada Emergency Business Account announced along with more money for BDC and EDC to loan)